1. SEARCHING FOR ALASKA........

IT WAS A TRIP OF A LIFETIME.......this is from my journal that i kept while on the trip.

June 18th- the day has finally arrived!  mike took us to the airport and we were off on our adventure.
my mom and i probably walked a mile in O'hare.  the shuttle didn't work out and we didn't ask for help.(traveling with my 78 yo mom)  we did OK.  i ended up carrying my moms luggage and she my carry-on that is on rollers.  traveling 1st class really does it!  what a difference!  the royal treatment-hot nuts and juice as soon as you sit down.   besides the meal-which was just OK, every 1/2 hr. the stewardess was asking what else you needed and the chairs were really comfortable.

     in Seattle we got a cart to haul all our luggage and caught the shuttle to our hotel.  I called Mandy.  they were on their way already. it was just great to see her again.  Craig and the girls came,too.  Mandy had it all planned out.  there was a park on a lake not far from the hotel(like almost across the street)  Mandy prepared a taco salad w/everything you could think of.  It was delish!!made w/ love.
Mandy the planned to take us all to a botanical gardens.  I think it was a public garden.  lots of plants were in bloom and it was fun walking around and looking at everything.  a plant that i wanted to look up when i first saw it, looked prehistoric-very interesting shaped leaves.  i was saying this all to Mandy and she said it was called the dinosaur plant.  i could not find it, but it was still interesting, should have taken a pic..........I grabbed her hand a few times and said how great it was to see her again.  we reminisced about old times.

june19th-the next morning we ate, packed up and headed back to the airport.  there were a few pushy people.  my mom and decided that we were going to be nice to everyone.  it was a long wait for our bus to get to the ship, but we finally(2hrs)boarded the bus and sat up front opposite the driver.  so we had a great view all the way up to Vancouver. 
it was fairly flat, except for one slightly up hill and curvy section.  we saw some old WWII planes making maneuvers.  we saw a bald eagle flying and being chased by some smaller pesty birds.  we drove downtown Vancouver to get to the ship.  finally.... there she was-THE PRINCESS DIAMOND!

THIS IS AT THE DOCK

couldn't  get a picture of her, as we were moving in the bus.  I was nervous and excited.  the princess diamond is a very pretty ship.  we made our way to  our stateroom-a mini suite with a balcony.  my mom was thrilled. 

there were chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us.  we were not even settles when we got called to"muster".   we had to take our life jackets with us and go over safety regulations.

we went back to our room and had some strawberries and champagne

we then made our way to deck 14 to watch the ship leave.  EVERyone was there,  lots of fun.  we were supposed to leave at 4:30p, but didn't get off til after 5:30.  the Holland America got off before us.

bunny trail....the reason we left late-there was a lady(grandma) and her whole family on this trip.  as we were getting on the bus to head to Vancouver, she was throwing up-i thought OH NO!  someone already sick and on our bus.  her family was very concerned about her and bits and pieces came out as we traveled to Vancouver.  she was diabetic and her meds were out of wack and they couldn't get her insulin under control.  when we went thru the Canadian border check, a daughter was telling the driver that she might need to get to a hospital.  i thought -great we are going to miss our ship!(not very sympathetic, i know)  the bus driver continued on to the ship and let the ships dr. deal with it.  while we were waiting at the front of the ship for it to leave,

the lady(Canadian) waiting on the rail with us(it was packed) said that she saw someone getting taken off the ship on a stretcher in an ambulance.  i knew immediately that it was the diabetic lady.  a few days later i ran into one of the family members and they shared that the grandma was fine and had been taken to a hospital and she was finally stabilized and was flying home.  this daughter, husband and 2 sons had caught up with the cruise in ketchacan our 1st big stop.

but on with the story......

my mom and i got a good spot at the front of the ship.  we finally leave the dock.  we stayed out front for awhile taking pix.

you can see the Holland America way up ahead

on the way back to the room as we were walking thru the buffet dining room i decided that we would grab some shrimp cocktail.  we then, back in our room, had shrimp, choc. strawberries, and champagne as we sat out on our balcony and enjoyed the sun setting.(the last of our full sun for 2-13days.

as we leave Vancouver

we relaxed and then got ready for dinner.  at dinner the head matre'd came over to help with my GF issues.  very helpful. very nice.

READ MY NEXT BLOG ENTRY FOR MORE OF THE STORY.....